


The clean up

by Lalenja



Category: Danny Phantom, Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Character Death, Crossover, Post-Iron Man 2, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-29
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-05-04 00:06:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5312207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lalenja/pseuds/Lalenja
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When going over the reports of the Expo incident, Tony Stark came to realize that not all of the Hammer Drones had been disabled by him or Rhodey. His curiosity sparked he went to investigate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The clean up

**Author's Note:**

> My second story, transferred from FF.net
> 
> Before you start reading, please keep in mind that English is not my native language. Therefore, have mercy with my spelling and grammar mistakes. If you notice some, please send those in a PM to me and I will make the changes.

It was the day after the fiasco at the Stark-Expo. Tony Stark alias Iron Man was sitting in his living room, holding a cup of coffee and the today newspaper. The front page was showing several pictures of the event. Frowning at the blurry images he raised his head. "Jarvis go over the footage from the Expo and see if you find something better." Tony or mostly his Ego was not satisfied with what he had seen.

"Yes Sir." Replied the artificial intelligence called Jarvis, with his formal British accent.

Tony finished the hot beverage and walked down the stairs to his work shop. There was always something to do and Pepper would arrive later so they could talk about the future of their company and the other changes they planned.

It wasn't long after his second cup of coffee, Jarvis had finished his research and was now projecting it on the big screens. "Sir you might want to know that several cameras had been disabled during the fight. I'm also unable to locate any material on how six of the Hammer Drones were destroyed."

Tony raised his head from the blueprints he had laying down on the desk before him. "Six? Did you count in the ones Rhodey had taken out after he got his suit under control?"

"Yes Sir, there is camera footage that is showing the six drones going to the west side, but once two of them entered pavilion number 9 there is no footage I can access and Lt. Col. Rhodey's suit had still been under control by Mr. Vanko at the time."

"Do we have any information what disabled them? Maybe S.H.I.E.L.D. has something to do with it?"

"Not that I am aware of, Sir."

"Hmmm" Tony mused, getting up from his seat behind the desk. "Tell Pepper, I will meet her later."

The drive to the Expo area didn't take long, mostly because there was not much traffic. The Expo was closed for the time being and it would stay this way until all dangerous remains from his battle had been removed. Also some of the buildings had been damage during the fight and needed to be repaired first.

Tony greeted the guards on the back entrance and was waved through the gate. After he had parked the car in his personal spot, he walked towards pavilion 9.

On his way he saw a couple of police officers, even one F.B.I. jacket if he was not mistaken but otherwise the area was deserted of the normal buzz a sunny day would have brought. It was sad, he thought for a brief moment. He really hoped that cleaning up and repairing the pavilions wouldn't take too long, so that the Expo could be opened again, soon.

The walk didn't take long and he was on the west side. He immediately noticed that there was much less damage to the buildings compared to the others he had passed on his way here. Tony touched the headset in his right ear: "Jarvis, where did you lose the drones?"

"I did not lose the drones, Sir. They disappeared at 95 meters to your right." The British accent made him sound smug.

Tony smiled and turned to his right. "Contact Agent Romanov, she was operating the controls at this time, she might know more."

"As you wish, Sir." The connection was closed.

Pavilion 9 was a stylish building, with a lot of dark wood and white walls which gave a nice contrast. It almost looked like a modern version of an old German building from around the 19th century, yet much bigger. Display boards on the side informed to the visitors that all material used was eco-friendly or had been recycled.

At the first glance Tony couldn't see any obvious damage and thought that none of the drones had made it into the building. When he came closer he could see that the roof of the building was made out of glass, yet only the frame remained.

When passing the building he saw a black spot on the ground. He crouched to examine it closer. It was a scorch mark, caused by an energy weapon or something similar. His expertise in that area was good enough to be certain of that. Now Tony just had to find the corresponding weapon, since the person wielding it was most likely also the one who had taken down the drones.

The clinking sound of glass pushed over ground made Tony look up. He heard it again, this time he could trace it coming from the pavilion in front of him. He tilted his head; nobody was supposed to be here. His access was only granted because he owned the place and was Iron Man, if he wishes to go in there, they could not stop him.

Tony rose and approached the entrance. Two former glass doors invited the visitors to enter. Now only the battered frame was left, shattered glass sprinkled the ground all around. He noticed that someone had already replaced the broken glass with temporary material - some sort of black plastic, not allowing him to see inside without entering.

On the outside there had been no obvious sign of who had taken residence, and Stark tried to memorize who had been located here from the map he had seen before. When he could not remember he shrugged and pushed the door open, he would find out soon enough.

At the first sight he noticed several glass displays, spread across the room, that had miraculously not been destroyed and each of them was holding a different kind of mobile device. In the center of the room was a small round pedestal. Behind a barrier stood a thick piece of glass, approximately the size of a door, surprisingly also intact. On the side, at eye level, was a small handheld device attached.

The second thing he noticed was a young man, 22 maybe 23 it was difficult to say from the angle he was facing him. He was of similar build as Tony himself, had the same raven black hair, but it was untamed and wilder. He was holding a broom, pushing debris from one end to the other, something that made it hard to guess his height. He was dressed in a black suit which made him look like a mix of him and Happy. Tony scowled at that particular thought.

"Hey," He called, "What are you doing here?"

The young man stopped and raised his head. Tony got the unpleased feeling to be judged, as two arctic blue eyes focused on him. It took only a few seconds and then the man smiled, disbanding the build-up tension in the air.

"Mr. Stark," he turned towards him, standing tall and Tony could see that they both shared almost the same height. "And here I thought you were a genius. What does it look like I'm doing?" holding up the broom, not showing any sign to be astonished by his presence.

Tony frowned, yeah his question had been stupid but it was also the right way to start the conversation. Not allowing the other man to get the better of him, he pushed these thoughts aside. "That's not what I meant. All areas are closed until the police is done with their investigation." He saw the young man shrug.

"They are free to look, but I don't think that they will find anything of value in the dirt."

Tony stepped closer. "I think they should decide what is of  _value_  and was not. How did you even get in here?"

He placed the broom in front of him and leaned his arm on it. "I never left." Giving his visitor a 'once-over'.

Tony blinked, twice "You were here, during the attack? Can you tell me what happened?"

Suddenly the blue eyes became guarded and he was standing tenser, something only a person with trained eyes would notice, someone like Tony.

"Why do you ask?" The young man wanted to know.

"The surveillance video shows two drones entering the building but then the recording was cut off."

"I don't know." The young man stated firmly turning to the side and started cleaning once more. His voice didn't show any distress but his eyes betrayed him, from the short glimpse Tony had seen before he had turned.

The billionaire was about to speak again when the young man stopped sweeping. In a much softer voice he spoke, keeping his eyes on the ground: "When the first shootings started, I closed the doors and brought all people to the back. We thought it was a terror attack." His gaze wandered for a brief second to Tony, checking if he doubted him.

Thinking about the things the young man had said, another question came to Tony's mind. "Who are you?" tilting his head to the left.

"Damian Frost." He replied, not looking up from his task continuing pushing debris in a collective pile.

A cheeky smile appeared on the billionaire face. "That's sounds like the name of a rock star."

The younger male chuckled, finally stopping in his movement. "Yeah, my parents were always considered to be a little bit nuts." He shrugged, leaning the broom against one of the displays and walked over to the side where a big trashcan had already been placed. "Unfortunately that career path was never an option."

"No singing voice?" Tony joked, his smile growing even wider.

Damian shook his head. "Don't like people staring at me and that's part of the job when you are singing in front of a crowd."

"And now you are cleaning the floor," pointed Mr. Stark out.

Damien lifted up the trashcan placed it next to the rubble and other debris he had collected. "For today at least…" He removed the attached dustpan and began scooping up the remains from the floor. Never completely leaving Tony out of his sight.

"And what will you be tomorrow?"

Another shrug "Whatever comes up, until the Expo is over."

"Do you ever give a straight answer?" grunted Tony, sounding annoyed.

Damian laughed aloud, putting the dustpan down. After a few seconds he stopped. "My apology," He granted Tony with a short nod "I picked up that habit from an old friend of mine." Shaking his head and standing up again, he walked over to him. "If you ask the right question Mr. Stark I'm more than happy to answer."

Tony didn't even try to hide his smile, yeah the young man could be infuriating (just like him) but he made a good point. "Okay Mr. Frost can you please tell me what exactly happed here yesterday and what your involvement was in all this."

The younger man crossed his arms before his chest. In a voice that reminded Tony of Rhodey when he made a report to his superior, he answered: "Well, most of the visitors had already left the Expo, as it had getting late, or where at the Hammer presentation by the main stage.

"It had been quite and I could hear the gunfire clearly, when the drones attacked you." He pointed a finger at him. "As I said, I thought it was a terror attack. I got to the doors, I called the people that were not running away in panic inside and herded them to the back where there would be safe."

Tony looked confused but Damian didn't let him speak up.

"A short time later, two drones entered through the front door." For a brief second his gaze clouded as he was recalling the events before he continued. "I had ordered my men to stay back and went to the front myself."

"YOUR men?" Now interrupted Tony him one eyebrow raised.

"Mr. Stark if you still haven't already guessed I'm not part of the cleaning personal that is working here."

"Then what are you?" he insisted.

"Head of Security, if you have to know." Said Damian, with a charming smile.

"You? With 22? How can someone that young become the head of security from ... which company ..." Tony looked to the side at the displays and for the first time actually read the name. "TF-Corp. As in  _The_  Tucker Foley Corporation?" His eyes grew big, seizing the young man in front of him up, now in new light.

"And just for the record, I'm older than I look." Damian's blue eyes sparked dangerously. "So do you want to know what happened or will you keep interrupting me?" He asked, daring the billionaire to say something.

"First the drones, I may have a couple of question afterwards." Stated the older of the two, not faltering under the young man's stare.

Damien rolled his eyes "You will not leave me alone until you have heard it all, do you?" Tony shook his head and the younger sighed.

"Do you want a coffee Mr. Stark, I sure could use one." Not waiting for an answer Damien turned on the spot and walked towards the back of the pavilion, Tony followed a few seconds later.

He was lead through a back door and found himself in the rest area for the employees. It was fitted with two sofas, a fridge and a small kitchen area to heat up food and make coffee or tea. Damien invited the other man to take a seat on the sofa with a wave of his hand, while he was seeing to the promised coffee.

"I should warn you," Damien said as he was putting coffee powder out of a black tin box in the machine "This is a very strong mix, you might want to add some water." "I like a strong coffee." stated Stark. Damian smiled inwardly and started the coffee maker.

Leaning with his back against the counter, his arms next to him, Damien focused on Tony again. "Where was I?" He asked himself.

"Your men in the back?" the other provided a starting point.

"Ah yes, my men had locked the door behind me and I was in the front room again."

Tony had made himself comfortable, one leg over the other and looking as he owned the room with all of its content.

The younger man, in the room didn't let this behaviour faze him and carried on, "I stayed behind the counter and watched the two drones entering. They directed their weapons towards the roof then I saw you, as Iron Man flying over the area and they started shooting."

The coffee was done and Damien got two cups and placed them on the table before Stark. He sat down and purred the black liquid into their cups. "I guess no milk?" He asked.

Tony shook his head, leaning forward taking in the strong smell from the beverage.

Damian filled the cup from his guest only half way and his own to the brim. Adding two sugar cubes before he settled back in the sofa, watching as Mr. Stark took his drink.

After the first sip, the eyes widen and he looked down at his cup: "You sure that's coffee?" he joked with a smile.

"Well," Damien smiled and remembered: "A friend once said you could also use it as weed killer." Taking a sip of his own.

"I like it." Smirked Mr. Stark and add more from the coffee to his cup.

The younger man waited that the other had also recline before he continued his recollection of the events of the previous evening, "When the drones had started shooting I had taken cover under the counter from the falling glass and other debris." He stopped for a moment, apparently going over what had happened in his mind. Tony didn't interrupt and was going down his own memory lane from the evening before.

"After the shooting stopped I waited until I could hear them move." Damien took another sip from his drink. "When I finally came up, they were gone. Don't know why but I didn't feel like arguing about that. The light was out at this point and I moved in the shadows to the doors. Looking outside, I could see a couple of these Haemorrhoids flying,"

"Haemorrhoids?" laughed Tony, choking on the coffee.

Damian smirked: "Yeah, there were a pain in the ass."

Stark laughed out loud. "Yeah, you are right, there really were." Tony smiled the young man defiantly had sparked his interest.

"However, I stayed at the doors waiting for the right moment to get the people from the back out and off the grounds." Damien proceeded in his explanation. "I heard more shootings and some smaller explosions. Once everything went quite I left the building to check out the area. There was a pile of those drones, not far from the buildings in an open area," Weaving his hand in a general direction to his left. "They started beeping in a very concerning way and I took again cover, just when they decided to go all boom."

The young man moved with the free hand, the other was holding the coffee, through his coal coloured hair. "I was lucky, to say it blunt." He shook his head. "When the ringing in my ears had stopped I got up and it wasn't long after, that we heard the police. At this point I decided it would be safe to move the people from the pavilion and they evacuated the grounds."

"Have you seen the person who disabled the drones after they had left?" inquired Tony.

Damien shook his head: "No."

The billionaire hunched forward, staring into the arctic blue eyes. "You are lying." He stated dryly.

The younger blinked, tilting his head slightly to the right: "And why would you think that Mr. Stark?" He asked.

Stark smiled and shrugged: "Intuition."

Damian sighed: "Mr. Stark,"

"Call me Tony," interrupted the billionaire.

The younger raised an eyebrow glaring at the other, thinking over the offer to call the successful businessman by his first name. Placing his now empty cup on the table he let out another sigh.

"Hypothetical speaking, if I knew who disabled to drones, what make you think that I will tell you after I said I don't know? And why do you want to know anyway?" studying the man before him and not letting his eyes stray.

"I'm the good guy remember?" said Tony, pointing a finger at himself.

Damian frowned at that answer, leaning back again, letting his gaze wander thinking of his next move. With his arms crossed before his chest again, this time in a more defensive posture: "Mr. Stark, do you know the different types of heroes in this world?"

The spoke to man looked confused about the question: "Why do you ask?"

"Just trying to make a point, and to confirm my reasons." He explained.

Tony shrugged and waved with his hand before he also leaned back: "Don't know where you going there but enlighten me, please."

"There a several different types of heroes. There are the unsung heroes like the busy mom that is helping her little baby girl by making a dress for the school play even though she had a long day at work. The everyday hero, a hard working father who is providing for his family, even though he is not happy with his job." Damian could see that Tony was still confused and didn't understand where he was going. "Then there are the day to day heroes, like Police officers or Fire Fighters, there job is literally risking their life so other can be safe."

"And?" questioned Tony as Damien made a long pause.

"And ... then there are people like you, they are  _Superheroes_." Pointing at the successful business man before him. "The next level if you think about that." Damien could see that with his words he had hit the Ego of the man spot on. "All these people have one thing in common: they are accepted in the world and well appreciated. Some are more in the open and getting attention," he casually waved at Tony, "Others are just happy with the quite life they have."

"And you are telling me that why?" Inquired the so called  _Superhero_ raising an eyebrow. "Because the one who took out the drones is someone that doesn't want the attention?"

"That too, but because of a different reason. See there is one last type of hero out there. He is not appreciated because people fear him and the things he is standing for. Nevertheless he is a hero. What do you call a hero that is doing what is necessary despite the knowledge that nobody wants him."

"The Garbage man?" Joked Tony with a mischievous smile.

Damien chuckled "Yeah, you could say that. But no he goes by many different names, the one I'm giving you is 'The Lost Hero', when you have done your homework you will understand and maybe even stop asking questions."

Towards the end the young man had gotten very serious, his gaze stern. He had held Tony's eyes for a few moments before he broke the contact and stood up from the sofa walking back to the counter, placing his dirty cup in a sink.

"Homework? You are joking right?" Said Tony sitting straight up.

Damien was about to answer, when he heard a ringing. He ignored the question and touched his right ear, activating a for his guest invisible head set: "Frost." He listened to the voice for a second before he replied. "Yes, patch her through." He looked up and gave Tony a smile as apology. "Sorry I have to get that, one moment."

He turned himself halfway facing the wall. "Yes?"

"Yeah I'm fine"

"No, I have a guest can't right now."

"A couple of day’s maybe."

"I'll send you an email with a list of things to repair."

"No not much, nothing I can't handle."

"Okay, bye."

A second tap on his ear and the connection was disabled.

"Family?" asked Tony, carefully watching the other.

"Work" was the short reply. "The usual, how are you, what happened, when are you next time in the office, is there something you need etc.…."

Tony nodded compared the answers with the things he had been listening: "Why are you staying here anyway. The Expo is closed until the repairs are done."

Damien shrugged: "I'm staying where the TF-PDA's are."

"Why?" inquired the other, standing also up from the sofa and placing his empty cup in the sink. "Couldn't they move them to the company, until the Expo is open again?"

The younger shook his head. "There is nobody left for this to decide."

"Huh?" Tony looked puzzled.

"Mr. Foley died 9 months ago."

Tony saw Damien's sad look at this unpleasant reminder, "The Company was sold shortly after that. However, TF-Corp had a contract with Stark Expo so that they could not quit and had to come." The younger man again wove his hand through the black hair. "Now they are using it, to show his last inventions and prototypes to draw the attention of other companies or groups to buy the patents."

"Oh."

In Tony's brain a storm of thoughts rose. "What will happen after the Expo?" He asked his eyes wandered over the interior of the room while still deep in thought.

"Well most of the devises will go back to the company and they start developing their personal PDA and Tablet Software for the market, I think. Maybe they will sell the patents, I don't know and it's not my business." Shaking his head, Damien crossed his arms.

"What about you? Planning on staying in the company or are there any other job offers you are looking forward to?" mimicking the other man's posture.

The spoken to shook his head. "There is nothing holding me there after Mr. Foley's dead, but I'm not in a hurry to find a new job, Mr. Stark, if this is what you are about to offer."

"Why not? You are young, and what I can see dedicated to your work. Quick thinking too, I like that. Furthermore you have a great sense of humour, very important when working for me." He beamed "I'm only working with the best and you would fit right in."

Damien was pleased by the compliments but shook his head: "Thanks for the offer, but no. Once the Expo is over I would prefer to have some time to mourn my friend. After that I'll think about the future."

"Friend?" he asked.

"Mr. Foley." Damian explained. "I didn't had time since the Expo had started a week after his death. And I have been busy ever since."

Tony nodded in understanding, his recently almost dead still fresh in mind he could relate to the desire of peace and seclusion. They were standing for a minute, both quiet and thinking.

"After that then!" Decided Tony, when he thought that they had now displaced enough genuinely. "I'm planning on building a tower in New York. Come over whenever you are ready. I will put you on the guest list and Jarvis will let you in anytime."

"Jarvis?" Damien looked at Tony confused.

"My A.I." This seemed to spark the younger's interest.

"You have an A.I. a real A.I.?"

"Yeah, for a couple of years now. You know, it was the work of Mr. Foley that had helped me making the breakthrough with it. He finished M.I.T. the year I enrolled there."

"Yeah, he told me once, but back then your company produced weapon and he was never fond of that. You came back into the picture after your..." he stocked searching for the right wording without stepping on any toes. "Time in Afghanistan." He came up with, hoping it would be okay for the former kidnapping victim. When he saw no negative reaction Damien continued: "He liked what you have created with the Iron Man suit and when you announced the Expo he was all over it." A small smile appeared on his lips, as he remembered the enjoyable times with his best friend.

"You and Mr. Foley have been close." Stated Stark not even questioning his perception.

"We have been good friends." Confirmed the younger one.

"How did the two of you meet?" Tony wanted to know, moving back to the sofa and getting comfortable again.

Damien shrugged: "First time I meet him was in a Park, a group of jocks had him cornered and were about to throw him in a garbage container." Making a face on that particular memory "We have been friends ever since and when he needed a new head of security for his company he came to me. End of story."

Tony shook his head: "Oh, I think that there is much more to that story than what you are letting on." His mind told him that Frost had told him the truth, but his gut feeling was telling him that there was more.

When Damien did not reply Tony pointed a finger at him. "Nobody just gives someone so young the position as head of security for a multimillion dollar company."

"I'm good at protecting people. Mr. Foley once said it was my  _obsession_. But I don't have to explain myself, at least not to you." Damien glared at Tony and for a moment Tony would have sworn that the younger man's eyes had flashed green, before it was back to the unsettling arctic blue.

 _"His time with Mr. Foley seams still to be a sore point for the young man"_  Tony thought and he was about to ask, when Damien shook his head.

Speaking in a much softer tone. "Mr. Stark I think it's time for you to go. You are a busy man and I have work to do too." Leaving his position by the counter the young man motioned for the other to stand up.

Stark knew if he would stay, all hope to get more information from the young man would be gone. So he complied and was escorted back to the exit.

"Mind if I come back another time?" he asked carefully.

"It's your Expo I don't think I can stop you." Joked the other, expressing that there were no hard feelings between them.

Tony smiled. "See you soon then," he wave his goodbye and left.

* * *

 

After Stark had left, Damien let out a deep sigh of relief. Turning on the spot he walked over to the pedestal at the center of the room. "You have listen in, what do you think?" He spoke towards the glass.

The clear surface flashed for a second in bright light and then a picture of a young man appeared, over the full length of the glass.

He had dark skin, was slightly taller as the other but appeared to be the same age. He was dressed in beige khaki pants with an orange long sleeve shirt and on his head rested a red beret; the nerdy look was completed with a pair of black glasses.

"I don't know, dude, he  _is_  Tony Stark. Who knows what he is about to do. I told you to leave the drones to Iron Man."

Frost frowned, crossing his arms before his chest in defence. "You know very well I can't just stand by and let people get hurt."

The picture shrugged: "Yeah but I think giving Stark the 'Lost Hero' speech will only get him more interested Danny."

Danny, aka Damian, scratched the back of his neck in a nervous habit. "Maybe, but he is a hero too. I felt he deserved more of the truth than others and what could he do after all? Speaking with the next government agency? There are not many left that have information on Phantom or anything ghost related, thanks to you."

"I'm a genius after all!" Pointing at himself the man in the picture grinned.

"Yes you always were, Tuck." With a sad look in his eyes.

The hologram became aware of his friends dark demeanour. "Stop pouting, how often I have to tell you, it was not your fault and to be honest, being an A.I. is cool. And the best thing is: I can annoy you forever and not getting older just like you."

Danny frowned. "Thanks for the reminder." He turned away, his shoulder hanging down and his face cringed in emotional pain, when he remembered that all people he knew still aged when he did not. Being half ghost for sure sucks sometimes.

* * *

 

With one last look, Tony Stark left pavilion 9 and marched towards the direction Damien had previous mentioned where the drones had completed their self-destruction sequence. It was in one of the many artificial park areas where the visiting folks could rest. A hole in the ground, that would swallow his entire R8, marked the spot of their disposal.

He was interrupted in his musings when his headset notified him that Jarvis wanted to talk.

"I'm busy, what is it?" He said harsh, not liking that he was once again stopped in his investigation.

"Sir, I have to remind you that Miss Potts it waiting. There was also an update to your calendar, a meeting had been scheduled with Director Fury in two days that I'm unable to chancel."

Tony let out a sign, work never ended. "Tell Pepper I'm on my way."

He turned towards the parking area. "And Jarvis get me everything about TF-Corp. their new owners and someone called Damien Frost. When you are done see what you can find about someone called 'The Lost Hero' pronto."

"Yes, Sir."

* * *

 

Two days later, and Tony was sitting in a dark room with several screens lit at the side. In front of him director Fury, head of S.H.I.E.L.D. There talk had not been the best so far and he had learned that they considered him not suitable for the Avengers Initiative but offered him a place as consultant.

He got up from his chair taking Fury's hand shaking it: "Thanks but I don't think you can afford me." He turned to go when he stopped himself, shortly after. He saw the other man sitting on the edge of his desk, eager for everything Tony might have to say.

"Then again, I would wave my customary remuneration exchange for a small favour, or make it two." He smiled: "Rhodey and I getting honoured in Washington and we need a presenter."

Fury nod "I see what I can do, and the second thing?"

"What do you know about someone called 'The Lost Hero' I've been through every database available but nothing, only rumours and legends."

The reaction was immediate and Tony thought that even if Fury had been shocked by a high voltage outlet it wouldn't be as violent. He jumped up from his position, his complete body tense and ready for a fight.

"Where did you hear that name?" he shouted angry.

Tony was surprised about the dangerous tone and the open hostility in these few words. "Someone mentioned it to me." He answered, narrowing his eyes and not swaging in his tone, but getting into a more defence position at the same time.

"Why are you asking. What do you know?" Fury ignored him and turned towards one of the agents who had accompanied him.

The director of S.H.I.E.L.D pointed one agent in particular and shouted: "Get me Hill, now."

He then pulled out his phone out of his pocket. "Coulson, Phantom is back, get everyone ready. DO. NOT. LOSE. HIM. AGAIN!" He ordered his voice laced with an unspoken threat before he closed the phone forcefully.

His one eye flashed dangerous at Tony: "Tell me, who told you that name?"

"Hell no, as angry you are you would go and rip his head off. What did ..." Blabbered Tony,

Fury interrupted him with a hand wave. "You don't understand the imminent danger this  _being_  pose to the world!"

Tony didn't like that Fury had called this hero (and he counted him as one, since he had saved the people of the Expo by taking out the drones while risking his own) a " _being_ " he did not even consider him a person.

Tony got the feeling that he had made a huge mistake speaking about "The Lost Hero" or as Fury had called him "Phantom" and that Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. where part of the group that didn't appreciate, no he corrected himself, they actually feared this hero.

He had one last straw, one person he could contact that S.H.I.E.L.D. had not on their radar, yet. And he would go to hell and back if he would let Fury know about him. Still he had to give him something or Fury would hold him back until he had revealed everything. "Someone mentioned that he was the one, taking out the six drones at Stark Expo that disappeared from the radar." With that he turned and walked out, apparently at ease in all his motion, hiding behind a perfect mask of a business man, anxiety tightly held inside.

He could not call Damian nor just drive to him, since S.H.I.E.L.D. would know that he had been the one who told Tony about 'The Lost Hero' so he had to play it down, get a few hours maybe a day in-between visiting the young man again.

* * *

 

Damian, alias Danny was currently working on the glass ceiling when Tucker, or more his A.I. activated the glass and shouted for him to come down. He could have activated the headset Danny always wore, but preferred to see his reaction to the news he was about to give.

The young man, floated down to his friend, today he was wearing a more casual attire with blue jeans, a black long sleeve shirt under a white t-shirt.

After the visit from Mr. Stark two days ago and the police asking question the day after, he had locked the doors to the pavilion and was free to use his powers without the imminent danger of someone surprising him. He had told the police the same thing he had told Tony. Well, except 'The Lost Hero' part, and they had left him alone not long after that.

"What is it Tuck?" Danny asked, landing soundless next to the pedestal.

The image of his friend smirked: "Guess what?"

Shaking his head Danny glared. "I'm not in the mood."

The night before had been interrupted by several bad dreams and he was on the brink of destroying something just to let out some pent up aggression.

"A BOLO had been sent out, for a couple of your old personas."

Danny's shoulders sank down. His bad feeling from the night before returned.

"Stark." He stated his voice strained and heavy-hearted, rubbing his left temple, working against the coming headache.

"Exactly!" Confirmed the other.

"Which ones?" Danny asked after a few seconds of gloomy thoughts.

"Dean, Darius, and David." The young man blinked, twice.

With a sound of despair he mussed up his raven black hair. "This would be S.H.I.E.L.D. then, how could I've known that Stark would run to them for information on me? Great - just great." He ranted, calling Tony and S.H.I.E.L.D. all kind of names.

"What do you want me to do?" The A.I. from his best friend asked, getting Danny back and out of his thoughts.

"Fury will not give in until Tony had giving him the name of the person who told him. As much I like to hope that Stark will keep me out of it, he will lead them to me one way or the other."

"Time for Damien to disappear. Any preferences where do you want to go next?"

"Somewhere with a more average temperature please. California is just not mine, too much sun." Shaking his head.

"What about the Zone?" Proposed the A.I.

Danny send the digital image of his friend a deadly glare. "I can't and you know that very well." His tone dangerous low and he was almost growling.

"You can't run forever from your responsibilities." Said Tucker softly, trying to reason with him, but the other didn't even see the need to replied to that.

After five very quiet minutes the A.I. spoke again. "We could go to Europe, this will at least throw S.H.I.E.L.D. off our tracks for a while."

Danny agreed. "Not for long I'm afraid, but for a few months that should work."

Danny turned his back to the glass and walked into the back area. The A.I. from Tucker switched to his headset and informed him about his doings inside the mainframe of TF-Crop. Where he removed or altered all pictures from Damien Frost and only left some basic information in his file.

It didn't took long for Danny to pack his belongings he had at the Expo and he would just need to do one quick visit to the loft he had rented before he would find a way on a plane towards Europe.

One hour later Tucker announced: "Your replacement is on the way and Damian Frost has officially left TF-Corp. All photos are replaced or chopped; nothing left that can be used for face recognition."

One strap of his duffel bag over his shoulder Danny walked out of the back of the building. "Thanks Tuck." Pocketing the devise that was former attached to the center of the presentation room in his black leather jacket, and with one last look around he left.

 


End file.
